May 7th, 2015 by Doree

There’s a lot happening at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N., in the coming weeks, including several movies and a book signing.

As part of the annual “Seattle Reads” program, designed to get everyone in Seattle reading and discussing the same book, Peter Heller, author of “The Painter,” will sign books (available for purchase) from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 16.

“The Painter” tells the story of Jim Stegner, a famous expressionist painter. He shot a man in a Santa Fe bar for making a lewd comment about his daughter, served a year in prison, and has since struggled to manage the dark impulses that sometimes overtake him. Stegner suffered a tragedy that he’s still grieving. He now lives in rural Colorado in a beautiful, peaceful valley where he spends his days painting, reading, and fly-fishing. Stegner is living a quiet life… until the day he comes across a hunting guide beating a small horse, and a brutal act of new violence rips his life wide open. Pursued by men dead set on retribution, Stegner returns to New Mexico and the high-profile life he left behind, where he’ll reckon with past deeds and the dark shadows in his own heart.

On Thursday, May 28, patrons can watch “Good Hair” (PG-13) from 6-8 p.m., as part of the library’s African-American film series celebrating black actors, directors and films that depict the African-American experience.

Families can build a simple playground out of recycled materials and found objects from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. Materials provided will include cardboard boxes, glue, fabric, string, tape, PVC pipes and more. This free event is presented in partnership with Pop-Up Adventure Play and Seattle ReCreative.

A free monthly family film series will be shown on the first Sunday of the month, through Aug. 2.

“Kiki’s Delivery Service” (G) from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 7.

“Wall-E” (G) from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, July 5.

“Meet the Robinsons” (G) from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2.

For comedy lovers, the Greenwood Library also is hosting a free film series highlighting Canadian comedian and actor Rick Moranis.

“Strange Brew” (PG) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 4.

“Ghostbusters” (PG) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 11.

“Little Shop of Horrors” (PG-13) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 18.

“Spaceballs” (PG) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 25.

Seattle Public Library also recently added The Living Computer Museum to its Museum Pass Program, bringing the total to 14 Seattle museum partners offering free admission to Library cardholders.

The Museum Pass program allows patrons of The Seattle Public Library to use their Library card to check out free museum passes. Participants can reserve a pass to an individual museum once every 30 days, and may use one pass per week. All passes are good for up to two people — some passes even include free admission for kids ages 17 and under.

The program reservation system requires the cardholder enter their Library card number, personal identification number (PIN), choose a specific date, and print the museum pass. To read more details and reserve a museum pass, visit www.spl.org/museumpass.

April 29th, 2015 by Doree

We are very lucky to have two independent bookstores in our neighborhood: Couth Buzzard Books and Phinney Books. And this Saturday we can celebrate them during the first national Independent Bookstore Day.

Couth Buzzard, 8310 Greenwood Ave. N., will offer free books for children, plus they’ll have a Celtic Jam from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and their regular Songwriters in Seattle Monthly Showcase at 7:30 p.m. Both events are free.

Phinney Books, 7405 Greenwood Ave. N., has a full day of activities planned, including hands-on crafts, trivia and prizes, a poem workshop, bind your own book workshop, kids’ story time with Steph, treats from Coyle’s Bakeshop for the first 25 customers, and rotating discounts all day long (10 percent off different letters of the alphabet every hour). Check their event page for the complete list. They’ll be open extended hours that day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

April 23rd, 2015 by Doree

The book sale is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, in Room CC1161 and the old cafeteria, located in the College Center building. (Enter from the south side of the campus.) Free parking is available.

Items for sale will include fiction and nonfiction books for all ages, CDs, DVDs, audio books and collectible books. Items will sell for $1 to $3. All items will sell for half-price on Sunday. Attendees are encouraged to bring a reusable bag or wheeled suitcase for their purchases.

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library is a non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the Library as an essential institution of our society. Friends volunteer members advocate, educate and raise funds on behalf of the Library, its patrons and the larger Seattle community.

March 30th, 2015 by Doree

Sara Crow, Phinney Ridge mom of three little boys, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish her new book, “Even Superheroes Have to Sleep.”

Sara wrote the book after struggling to get her boys out of their superhero costumes and in to bed one night. The rhyming story is designed for children ages 1-6 and stars characters such as a scientist, superhero, princess, doctor and pirate. The book is illustrated by Adam Record.

She’s hoping to raise enough money to self-publish the book by August. The Kickstarter campaign ends on May 3.

March 5th, 2015 by Doree

Greenwood author and poet A. B. McFarland has just published her first novel, “Pieces of Home,” which is set in Seattle.

Pieces of Home is about a young hermit who loses her Seattle home in a fire and ends up staying with a family she barely knows. Still reeling from her divorce and the loss of her restaurant business, and with no trusted family to fall back on, she goes to stay with her classmate Iya Forsythe and his eccentric relatives. She soon finds herself intensely curious about the puzzling Forsythe family, headed by Orvie and his brother, Marlow. Thrust into the role of part-time parent to an eleven-year-old girl with anger management issues and a fourteen-year-old boy hung up on the contents of a jar in his desk drawer, Skye begins to find the strength to cope with her estranged brother, while picking up the pieces of her own life. Written in the form of a diary, Pieces of Home takes an honest but humorous look at the emotional factors that lead to homelessness, violence and trauma in families.

McFarland says Couth Buzzard Books at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N. has a few copies of “Pieces of Home” on consignment. The book also is available on Amazon.

And another Greenwood author, Deborah Bacharach, will read from her new book of poetry, “After I Stop Lying,” from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at the Greenwood Branch, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

Bacharach is a poet and essayist and has been published in over 100 journals nationwide. She was the 2015 Poetry on Buses featured poet for the week of Jan. 26, and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Bacharach is a freelance writing consultant who lives in the Greenwood neighborhood with her partner and two children.

The Library will also be sealing a time capsule, which will be opened at the branch’s 25th anniversary in 2030. “Library patrons are invited to write a letter to their future self, describe the community, draw pictures or take photos—whatever comes to mind!” said Karen Spiel, regional manager for libraries in northwest Seattle. Templates for the time capsule can be picked up at the Greenwood Branch, and entries can be turned in to the branch through Sunday, Feb. 8.

The current Greenwood Branch opened Jan. 29, 2005. It was the 13th project completed under the 1998 voter-approved “Libraries for All” building program. The branch features an expansive view of the Cascade Mountains, tables made of wood salvaged from an American red elm, and artwork by Portland artists Fernanda D’Agostino and Valerie Otani based on Greenwood Branch patrons who posed as models.

November 5th, 2014 by Doree

As a veteran of the Foreign Service at U.S. embassies overseas, Dennis sets his foreign affairs thriller in contemporary Berlin, Dresden, and a castle where Hitler was building a command bunker until the Soviet armies overtook his plans.

May 29th, 2014 by Doree

Greenwood author Rebecca Morris will discuss her new book about the Susan Cox Powell case, “If I Can’t Have You,” from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N. Morris co-authored the book with Gregg Olsen.

Couth Buzzard Books will have copies of the book for sale at the event.

Morris has authored or co-authored several true crime books, including “Ted and Ann,” about serial killer Ted Bundy.